Is thing still on..

Now, I don't like to be needlessly controversial - but hey, I figure nobody is reading any more and it'll just be random googlers who come on here to lay the smack down so here goes...

Australian soldier dies. Very tragic, boo hoo and all. There's no doubt about that, but should we really be THAT upset about it. Allow me,

The wife of slain Australian commando Lance Corporal Jason Marks, 27, said today that all the father of her two children ever wanted to be was a soldier.

"There are no words to express how we are feeling,'' Cassandra Marks stated via a defence department media release today.

"Our family is devastated at the tragic loss of Jason in Afghanistan today. [He] was a devoted father to our two beautiful children and a loving husband to me.

"All Jason ever wanted to do was to join the Army,'' she wrote.

"He was the type of of man who knew what he wanted, even from the age of 12, all Jason ever wanted to be was a soldier.

"Becoming a Commando was a dream of Jason's, he was proud of who he was and proud of what he did.

So basically he wanted to go out, wave a gun around and patrol the hot spots of the world - possibly killing people. And what happens to people who wave guns around whilst patrolling the hotspots of the world? They get shot back at, or blown up. If you're dragged into the army kicking and screaming then you're officially a tragic victim. If you sign up to go over for a smackdown and you get killed then it's no less tragic for your family, and no sadder that two kids will grow up without a father, but can you really act like it's a surprise?

It's like when somebody who works on constructing a 70 storey building plummets out the window and dies. It's tragic - yes, I know that please don't write in - but when you put yourself in a position like that it's an occupational hazard. The same as being a soldier. I'm not saying that we don't mourn this loss, but I'm not sure it's worth putting somebody up on a pedestal as a massive legend when they did the job they were paid to do.

Please address all letterbombs to PO Box 4646 in your Capital City.